Oil prices rose after fresh US military strikes on Iran and the reimposition of sanctions on Tehran, heightening concerns over supply from the strategically important Gulf region. The renewed tensions rattled global markets, with almost all major Asian stock exchanges falling and Samsung Electronics shares sliding for a second consecutive day.

Alongside the geopolitical developments, the Guardian's business blog covered several UK corporate stories. Ofwat found that water company Severn Trent had "serious failings" in its handling of wastewater and sewage but escaped a fine, having proactively identified problems and invested £98m to fix them. Ofcom fined Virgin Media a record £28m for repeatedly obstructing customers trying to cancel contracts between January 2022 and September 2024. FTSE 100 warehouse landlord Segro, meanwhile, is forming a data centre joint venture in Paris and is in talks over a proposed £12.6bn takeover by US firm Prologis.